Aurelian Prisoner

by Corin Cain

  I swallow hard at his touch. I hate hearing him say this. I hate knowing I’m going to be the reason that Daccia, Hadrian and Kitos are going to be imprisoned… or worse.

  But the only alternative is submitting to the Bond – of shackling myself for the rest of my now unnaturally-long life to these three towering, fugitive warriors. I’m not about to trade my newfound freedom for a different kind of servitude. I hate myself for it – but I can’t be weak right now. In this universe, only the strong survive.

  The weak die.

  Daccia slowly withdraws his hand. I crave his touch already.

  “I do have one question, Allie: Where did the money go?”

  Fuck.

  Tears spring to my eyes. I pride myself on being strong, but that’s one open wound that will never heal.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Daccia shakes his head. "I need to be able to trust you, Allie. You took those Elites for a fortune. They lost their status, their rank, and their place in our society. Why did you do it? Where did that money go?"

  I sigh. I must make the leader of this triad trust me – and if telling him my sad, sorry tale makes him drop his guard…

  …I don't see reason not to tell him, even if talking about it is pure pain.

  "My sister... You know she was taken from me. You mentioned it just now – and it must be in my file with Aurelian Law Enforcement.”

  Daccia nods.

  “Space-pirates,” he growls. “I’m so sorry, Allie.”

  I feel tears welling in my eyes.

  “Well, before they took her – to whatever fate awaited her – they tried to ransom her. The demanded a huge sum to return her to me.” My bottom lip trembles. “I was just a young, homeless girl. Stealing from those Aurelians was the only way to pay the ransom the pirates were demanding."

  Daccia’s face is like that of a statue as he listens – totally implacable

  "You did what you had to do, Allie. Where is she now?"

  I force back the tears and look him straight in the eye. I will not let myself succumb to the weakness of tears. I don't have time for them.

  "I have no fucking clue. The pirates took the money – and then they just left.”

  I thought of Lilac – of her face when I’d seen her last. I had no idea what she’d look like now – if she was even still alive.

  Daccia had asked where she was now. I breath:

  “I wonder the same thing every day."

  Daccia doesn't speak for a moment. He just breathes in, and then stares at me.

  Finally, he murmurs: "We’ll find her, Allie – if she’s alive. If she isn’t, we’ll at least learn her fate. We’ll at least give you that closure.”

  I blink. Is he serious?

  Daccia continues:

  “We're going to go to the med-bay right now and reactivate your implants. I need you to trust us, and for that, I have to trust you.”

  Oh, Gods. The guilt swells up inside of me.

  Daccia then promises: “We're going to take another sample of your DNA, so we can run it through our databases. I'm promise you, Allie – we’re going to do everything we can to find your sister."

  If she's even still alive.

  Suddenly, I don't know what to think. I know Daccia would do anything in his power to help me. But do I dare let him do this?

  I’m ashamed to admit that part of me wants to accept that my sister is dead. It’s the only way I can move on. Part of me can't stand the never-ending pain of wondering if I'll ever see her again.

  But that’s only one, small part of me. The rest of my being? It will never stop searching for Lilac. It will never want to let go of the pain. Letting go of my pain would be like letting go of her.

  I realize suddenly that these three Law Enforcement agents were able to track me down, using their databases, and incredible investigative skills...

  Surely, nobody else in the entire universe would be better equipped to find Lilac.

  Think, Allie!

  Yes, these three could be the key to finding your sister…

  …or Daccia might be a fucking sociopath, who’s just manipulating you.

  “Let’s get my weapons reactivated first,” I respond, ignoring his promise about my sister. I need to see through this man – and by reactivating my implants, he’ll have demonstrated how much he trusts me.

  But even that show of faith worries me. This Aurelian has found the one person his triad were purposed to spend their thousands of years of life searching for – their Fated Mate. It was a one in a billion chance that we’d ever meet – one in ten billion.

  Which means, Daccia might tell me anything just to manipulate me into staying with him and his battle-brothers. He has to.

  Surely, he knows how slim the chances are that we’ll ever find my sister, or even a trace of her.

  I can’t let his promise distract me from his ultimate goal – to keep me chained to him and his battle-brothers, metaphorically; if not literally.

  Daccia wants me to be reliant on him – he needs me to be.

  I’m a master manipulator – I can admit that. But men try to manipulate women in different ways. Daccia must think he’s pretty-fucking-clever to have found the one weak spot in my emotional armor. I now regret telling him about my little sister. I regret giving the alien warrior leverage he can use against me.

  I must never forget that he’s my captor.

  15

  Daccia

  The guilt keeps welling up inside of her.

  Is it guilt for what she did? Or for what she’s planning to do?

  There’s only one thing that’s certain. The key to this wild woman’s heart is her little sister. I can’t imagine the pain of losing my Fated Mate. It must be similar to losing one’s own family.

  What would it be like, to have someone who is your very blood and soul?

  We Aurelians are spawned in cryo-chambers. Only those bonded to their Fated Mates can produce natural-born sons, and then produce brothers for them. For the likes of Kitos, Hadrian and I, we are the closest thing we have to brothers.

  To be related to somebody – born from the same mother – might be a Bond more powerful than even the one my triad forged in battle. The only chance I’ll ever have of a blood relative is through Allie. The only chance I’ll ever have of feeling true, familial love is through our mate…

  …but I don’t trust her.

  I can’t.

  Yet, if restoring Allie’s hidden weapons takes us a step into the right direction, I’ll take it. She has no more reason to knock out our ship’s Orb-Drive. The lightning shock weapon in her right arm is enough to kill a fully-grown human male, but it would only stun an Aurelian briefly.

  It might not be a good strategic move to arm her again – but strategy doesn’t matter when it comes to her safety. Now we’re Bonded, Allie will outlive us. We’ll be there by her side until the day we die, and when that day comes, we’ll die for her.

  Maybe it’ll be in thousands of years from now, or maybe when the consequences of our crime catch up to us. One way or another, though, Allie might be left to battle through this universe alone. Aurelians don’t always last too long out in this dangerous universe.

  We stand from the mess-hall table, and Allie follows me into the medical bay. I remember the first time we were in here. I’d nearly snapped. Seeing her naked, bound to the examination chair, triggered deep, lustful urges inside of me. I expended every ounce of self-control to keep my honor…

  …albeit only for a short hour, before I abandoned everything to claim her.

  But, in abandoning everything, I gained so much more.

  “Are you going to make me strip again?”

  Allie’s tone is light and flirting. She raises one perfect eyebrow. My cock surges in response to her question.

  As I stand there, I breathe in her scent – and beneath all her anger and stress, the intoxicating scent of her arousal is unmistakable. She doesn’t have to fake wanting us to s
educe us. She craves us just as much as my triad crave her.

  It’s torture, though. Every moment spent in which my cock isn’t buried inside of her is pure torture. I’ve never put much faith in the Gods – but Allie must be living proof that they exist. Who else could have created such perfection, other than a divine being? She’s a powerful angel – a woman who could never be tamed or owned, only experienced.

  If she strips right now, I know I’m not going to be able to hold back, but the last thing I need right now is for Allie to think I’m nothing but an uncontrollable beast – that I desire only to fuck her and breed her. She’ll never care for me if I lose control of myself. I must put her needs before my own.

  "No,” I reluctantly instruct her. “That’s not necessary – not this time. Just roll up your sleeves."

  "You're no fun today," Allie pouts – yet, although she says it in a flirty tone, she can't hide her pain. Bringing up the subject of her missing sister opened up an old wound. Through the Bond, I’ve come to realize that she’ll never feel truly whole again – not until she finds her sister, or at least learns what happened to her.

  I won’t lie to her.

  I told Allie the truth. If her sister is alive, we will find her. If not? We’ll find the man – or men –responsible for her death…

  …and make them beg for their own.

  Women don’t last long in the sex trade – not out here in the cruel, cold universe. They last even less when they’re recruited as forced labor, in the asteroid mines on the edges of the settled universe. Whatever fate Allie’s sister faced, I fear it didn’t end well for her.

  One thing is certain, though. I may no longer be an Aurelian Law Enforcement agent – but I will get to the bottom of it.

  This is now the most important investigation I’ve ever been assigned to.

  Back in the moment, I watch Allie roll up the sleeves of the cheap prison uniform I’d handed her. Even in that shapeless, poorly-tailored outfit, she still looks ravishing. I've come close to death so many times that I know how breathing is a privilege, not a right…

  …but breathing in the air filled with her scent?

  That’s paradise.

  As Allie stands there, I prepare the procedure. As I work at the controls, I ask her:

  "If you want us to be able to find your sister, I need more information. Where was she taken?"

  Allie doesn't answer me at first. Then, without being told to, she hops into the medical chair.

  "She was taken three years ago. We were doing work for a mining outfit. Their AI was malfunctioning – so, in the meantime, it was cheaper to hire a couple of orphans than get it repaired. We were in the middle of a haul when we were intercepted by space-pirates.”

  Even on the outskirts of Aurelian-controlled territory, space-pirates were a growing threat. I felt my hands ball into fists at the mention of those vultures.

  Allie stammers: “I... I made a mistake. I should have stayed with her, on the ship. Instead... I’d wanted to make some extra coin – so, I’d gone with the mining crew to the asteroid side, so I could join their mission.”

  Tears welled in Allie’s eyes.

  “Gods! She’d begged me to stay – almost as if she knew something was going to go wrong. She... "

  Allie's voice cracks with grief. I look away. Witnessing a show of emotions is highly shameful in Aurelian culture. I won't add to her discomfort.

  But my mind races.

  Space-pirates. The plague of the open universe. They operate wherever Aurelian rule doesn’t fully reach.

  Why can't humanity understand that they‘re safer under Aurelian rule? Why do more and more planets choose independence, rather than accept our protection?

  "Did you see the men who took her? The pirates?"

  Allie shakes her head.

  "No. They hit the ship, and they hit it hard. It was venting oxygen. Half the crew was killed, and the other half taken. The pirates apparently didn't think it was worth their while to follow the rest of the crew onto the asteroid, where we were mining – not after an asteroid storm had just stopped.” She sniffs. “I almost wish they had. Then I’d have been captured too, just like Lilac. Then, I’d have at least shared her fate.”

  Allie takes a ragged breath.

  “Instead, the space-pirates left the mining crew on that asteroid. They left us to die."

  "But you didn’t die,” I breath slowly. “What happened next?"

  Allie looks away. "We got saved. It was just luck. Another mining mission stumbled across us and picked us up. They took our entire haul, too – as the cost of saving us.”

  Vultures.

  I didn’t telepath that thought, but Allie nods as if she could read my thoughts.

  “They took our entire haul – but at least they saved our lives. The second I got planet-side, I started searching for my sister. I hoped that the space-pirates were doing what most of their kind do – you know how that works."

  I know exactly how it works.

  Space-pirates hit a civilian ship. They take as many prisoners as possible. Then, they send out a ransom notice. The prisoners whose families and relatives can afford it get sold back. If any of the captives don’t have family and friends with sufficient money, the space-pirates sell them as slaves. It’s a cruel business. They only bother with the ransom because it’s generally worth more to sell the captives back to their family. If it wasn’t for the promise of a little extra coin, they’d probably all get sold directly to the slavers.

  “What happened after that?”

  Allie gives me a sad smile. “I should have fucking known. But, hell, even if I did know, I’d still have tried.” Her eyes widen. “The ransoms the pirates were demanding were exorbitant – far more than normal, which was already beyond anything a homeless orphan like me could have paid.”

  She shivers.

  “Even worse? We had just one month to pay up before they promised to sell the prisoners to slavers. Everybody who cared about anybody who’d been taken got desperate.”

  I can see Allie replay the painful memories in her head.

  “One guy got killed trying to hijack a nobleman’s ship to buy back his brother,” she sighs. “Me? What the fuck was a young woman supposed to do? I knew my only chance was to use the last of my money to book a voyage to Sarathon 5.”

  Sarathon 5. I knew it from her criminal file. That was where that trio of Aurelian Elites had met their shameful fate.

  “I joined a harem,” Allie begins to tell me the story I already know parts of. “I made them trust me. I earned the trust of those Aurelians until I had access to their systems…”

  She laughs bitterly.

  “…and then I took their funds. Every penny I could.”

  She looks up.

  “I wired those bastard space-pirates everything they asked for – a fucking fortune. They must have been laughing at me. All they’d to do was drop Lilac back on the planet. All they had to do was put her in a fucking escape pod, and set the auto-pilot!”

  She sobs.

  “Instead, I never heard from them again."

  Allie sighs, her eyes dropping down to her hands. “I guess I should have known. They cast a wide net with that ransom. Those bastards just hoped someone would luck out on some big cash haul and send it all. They probably weren’t even in the same fucking star system by that point. Gods. I was so stupid.”

  I shake my head.

  “We all do foolish things for the ones we care about. It’s in our blood – Aurelian or human.”

  I look up, and bark: “AI, reactivate the subject’s implants.”

  The AI hums to life. The Artificial Intelligence unit is the brain of our ship – an interconnected smart computer that runs everything from the oxygen supplies to the rations. From the chair Allie is sitting in, metal tendrils emerge. They’re the same ones that deactivated her electro-shock weapon in the first place.

  Disabling weapons is a quick, almost painless procedure – all it takes it a contr
olled shock, administered to overcharge key circuits in the device implanted beneath Allie’s skin.

  Re-enabling weapons, though – that’s much worse. The AI will have to probe into the flesh of Allie’s arm, surgically repairing the de-activated nodes that are linked directly with her flesh and nerve endings.

  The worst part is that I can feel Allie’s grief through the Bond. She’s in enough pain already. When she thinks about what happened to her little sister, she descends into a dark place.

  I hate to bring her more pain – even if she’s asked for it.

  Allie senses my disquiet though our Bond. She looks up.

  “This is going to hurt, isn’t it?”

  I nod, and the tendrils extending from the chair clamp her in place – curling rigidly around her wrists and ankles to stop her from moving during the operation.

  “I recommend you take sedation,” I murmur.

  Allie shakes her head. “No. I need the pain.”

  I don’t ever want Allie to suffer – but I understand what she means.

  The first time my triad had to descend into a Scorp nest, I nearly puked as we looked at the dark opening yawning in front of us. We Aurelians are raised to never show our emotions – especially the ones seen as weakness, like fear.

  Ironically, my shame overwhelmed my fear. At that point, as I stood facing my first taste of death and battle, I’d have rather died than show my fear in front of the other warriors.

  Sometimes, you need one painful thing to help you control another.

  As the AI calculates how best to proceed, I allow my mind to wander – sinking into memories long forgotten.

  I remember that first battle. During it, I watched a fellow warrior I’d trained alongside in military academy get cut down by a Scorp. He’d feinted left, but he should have gone right. The warrior took a pincer claw to the gut – a claw that pierced right through the armor that should have saved him.

  Maybe it was a faulty flak jacket. Maybe it was just plain bad luck. In any event, I’ll never forget the incomprehension in his eyes as my fellow warrior looked down and saw his own organs spilling onto the cold rocks beneath him.

  War is hell.